The present invention relates to a connector for coaxial, twin axial and/or twisted pair cables. The invention is especially suited for the termination of shielded cables of the type mentioned, such that controlled impedance is provided through the connector, from mating face to cable end.
A variety of connectors for terminating shielded cables are known in the art. Such connectors are typically designed for a single type of application and are not typically easily altered for use with, for example, different signal/ground configurations, or for use with different types of connection methods, e.g., soldering or welding. In addition, known connectors are typically difficult to assemble, often requiring multiple molding steps, over-molding of electrical contacts and the like, which add time and expense to the connector fabrication process. Finally, prior art connectors often do not provide adequate performance characteristics for high performance systems. Inadequate performance characteristics include, for example, the inability to control the impedance within the connector, or to match the connector impedance with that of the system in which the connector is used. What clearly is needed is a connector which provides greater flexibility in its use and which is easy and economical to produce.
Accordingly, the invention described herein provides an electrical connector which is easily assembled and configured for alternate uses, and which may be adjusted to provide a controlled impedance across each signal line of the connector.
Briefly, the present invention provides a connector for terminating a shielded cable and connecting the cable to regularly arranged contact pins. The connector comprises a planar connector body formed from an insulative material which has a plurality of longitudinal channels each adapted to receive a socket contacts. A planar conductive ground plate covers the bottom surface of the connector body and extends across each of the plurality of socket contacts. The ground plate makes electrical contact with the shield of the cable to establish a ground plane equidistant from each of the socket contacts. A cover member encloses the socket contacts.
A plurality of the connectors may be stacked together and held in a stacked configuration by a retaining rod which secures to mating engagement surfaces on the connector bodies. In a stack of connectors, the cover member may be provided with a conductive portion which is electrically connected to the ground plate, where the conductive portion of the cover member is formed to extend above the top side of the connector body and make electrical connection with the ground plate of the connector stacked above. In this manner, each of the ground plates in a stack of connectors may be assured of being at the same ground potential.